I know we're not talking about the vast, vast, vast majority of commercially available meat or meat-eaters when I bring this up, but.... Heritage breeds and extinction and genetic diversity and yadda-yadda-yadda. I know a goat breeder who manages a population of San Clemente goats, and she'd LOVE to get a restaurant or two in on that action (just as soon as there are enough San Clemente goats around to even be able to support a restaurant or two).

Some animal populations become really unhealthy without something preying on them. In lieu of reintroducing wolves and giant cats and letting feral cows/goats/sheep get ripped apart by predators, I think eating grass-finished animals who spent their life happily at pasture before being killed quickly and painlessly is a pretty good option.

Bring in all that stuff and the inherent cruelty of eating meat becomes a kind of glass half-empty/half-full thing - it depends on how you look at it.

you can buy from sources that you personally know treat their animals right

Exactly. So one can say they refuse to support animal cruelty. This makes sense. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that you can't eat meat.

Anyway, this all reminds me that I am pretty happy to be just lactose intolerant.

KIlling isnt cruelty?

Imma let you finish,

but the best non-cruelty meat is no meat at all.

HI! I fuck up forest, have an essentially complete lack of predators, and cause thousands of car accidents resulting in death, injury, debilitation, loss of work, loss of revenue, increased insurance premiums, etc. Without hunting millions of us would die slow painful deaths from starvation every year.
_________________...if a single leaf holds the eye, it will be as if the remaining leaves were not there.http://about.me/omardrake